


Call me in the morning

by ArielAquarial



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe, Charlie Bradbury & Dean Winchester Friendship, Coffee, Drunk Charlie Bradbury, Drunk Dean Winchester, Drunk Texting, Firefighter Dean Winchester, Harvelle's Roadhouse, Human Castiel, M/M, Matchmaker Gabriel (Supernatural), Misunderstandings, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Writer Castiel, hangovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-25
Updated: 2018-05-28
Packaged: 2019-05-13 18:45:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14754260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArielAquarial/pseuds/ArielAquarial
Summary: Dragged out of his home and pushed into a bar by his brother, the last thing Castiel expected to happen was to meet a man inebriated enough to hit on him.Too bad the man was entirely too drunk to remember him in the morning.





	1. Chapter 1

Gabriel was pulling him inside the bar like his grip was the only thing stopping Castiel from turning around and matching back out the way he came. That was fair, Castiel supposed, since he really didn’t want to be there. Drinking was already low on the list of things that Castiel enjoyed, and drinking at a bar with his brother was even lower. If asked why, Castiel would refer them to an incident that happened nearly three years prior which ended with Castiel getting handcuffed, and a police officer almost dispatching his K9 unit on a fleeing Gabriel who had, five minutes prior to the police arriving, stripped himself nude. It had been a bad night all around and cemented Castiel’s desire to never be within 100 feet of a bar ever again. Especially with Gabriel. Yet, here he was, walking into the Roadhouse Bar and Grill, which at this time of night had become 100% bar. If Gabe hadn’t came to his house and physically pulled him outside, he would be at home with a soft blanket and his favorite novel.

“We’re celebrating!” Gabe had yelled as he pulled Castiel into the Uber that had been parked outside of his house.

“Celebrating what?” He asked.

Gabriel looked at him like he had grown another head. “My sweet little bro…didn’t you just sell the rights to your newest novel?”

“Oh…” Castiel pinched the bridge of his nose. “Yes, I suppose that is cause for celebration, but must we celebrate at a bar? I have microwave popcorn. We could watch a movie at home.”

“Microwave popcorn…” Gabriel repeated. “Nope! We’re getting some drinks and you, my dear brother, are getting some ass!”

Despite his protests, Castiel still ended up getting pushed into the bar and towards a table. He was left there, alone to fend for himself, until Gabriel returned with a few drinks. “Here you go! A Suck, Bang, and Blow for you.” He gently set down a martini glass full of a red liquid in front of Castiel, and then set down something that looked like a bloody Mary in front of himself. “And an Anus Burner for me.”

Castiel looked at Gabe and sighed. “Must I ask?”

His brother laughed at the look on Castiel’s face. “I don’t know what they’re made of. I told the bartender to give me something with a dirty name and I’ll be damned if she didn’t deliver!” He took a sip of his drink and grimaced. “Fuck that’s bad…” he took a second drink and let out a loud whoop of laughter.

Cas picked up his glass and swirled the liquid around before taking a small sip. He couldn’t help but frown at the taste. “I would rather not get drunk tonight, so please don’t buy me any more drinks. Especially not another one of these…”

“Cassie…” Gabriel wined loudly. “We’re celebrating! Come on. Take off your cable knit sweater and unbutton a few. We’re going to get drunk, and then I’m going to find you a nice piece of ass and send you on your merry way.”

He had to take a deep breath before he was able to reply. “I’d rather be at home tonight, Gabriel. If you hadn’t forced me out, I would be actually enjoying myself."

Gabriel rolled his eyes. “Have another one of those drinks and I guarantee you’ll start enjoying yourself.”

Castiel just shook his head and pointedly ignored Gabriel while he tried to finish his drink. Gabriel, his most outgoing brother, would never understand that environments like this took a lot out of Cas. He had never been one for crowded spaces, especially ones that smelled like body odor and cigarette smoke. Especially since, in his experience, Gabriel would soon find himself an attractive man or woman, and then Castiel would end up sitting at the table alone while Gabriel was off performing any number of sexual acts in the bathroom. “Just the one for me, Gabriel.”

His brother rolled his eyes at Castiel. “You’re no fun. What if I find someone whose your type?”

He rolled his eyes. “What exactly is ‘my type’?”

Gabe graced him with a wolfish smile. “Well, Cassie…I’m glad you asked.” He pointed to his left and Castiel followed Gabe’s finger to another table where a man and woman were talking. He was blonde, with a short layer of stubble and a smile on his face that made Castiel’s heart beat just a bit faster. His outfit was simple, a nicely fitted black Henley, and a fitted pair of dark jeans. The red headed woman he was with had her camera pointed towards him, recording whatever he was saying. Judging by the empty glasses on the table in front of them, they were already well into a night of drinking.

Castiel forced his eyes away from the man and regarded Gabriel’s smug expression. “I’m not interested.”

He pouted. “But you obviously like him!”

“That’s besides the point.” Cas reached for his drink and took a bigger gulp of the sugary liquid, hoping that he could leave when it was finished. “I’m not going to approach someone who isn’t sober.”

Gabriel’s moth dropped open. “We’re in a bar, Cassie. No ones sober.”

Castiel shrugged and downed the rest of his drink. “That’s unfortunate then, isn’t it?”

His brother laughed. “You bastard.”

Cas’s eyes were drawn back to the man before he realized it. The woman was still recording him as he got up and started speaking even louder. Cas could just hear the low rumble of the mans voice over the loud sound of the bar. Despite his attraction to the man, there was no way he was going to go home with someone who was inebriated. He could just imagine the sloppy sex and awkward morning after.

A clinking sound caught his attention. He turned back to Gabriel to see that while he had been distracted by the attractive man, Gabriel had gone and bought him another drink. He sighed as he swiped his finger through the condensation on the glass of dark beer. “Gabriel…”

He held the hand not holding his drink up in a placating gesture. “Yeah, I know. One more, ok? Do it for me.”

Cas sighed an took a slow sip of his beer. It was actually really good. “Okay, Gabriel, one more.” He glanced at his watch and saw that it was 11pm. “I’m not staying later than one.. I have work in the morning.”

His brother laughed. “You’re an author. You work from home.”

Cas frowned at him. “Yes, but I like to have a schedule, and I know-”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah…. That’s why I’m trying to get you to let loose a bit! You’re too anal- and not the good kind- about your time and you never relax!”

“I relax, Gabriel. I was doing just that before you abducted me tonight.”

His brother laughed loudly, drawing the attention of those around them. “I didn’t abduct you.”

“Then what do you call barging into my house and-”

Gabriel’s eyes widened before he snapped his attention back to Cas and cleared his throat. “Cas…”

With a sigh, Castiel grabbed his beer and took another drink. “What?”

Gabriel cleared his throat again and pointed behind Castiel. With a frown, Cas turned around only to come face to face with the handsome blond man. Before he could do more than let out a surprised breath, the man was speaking.

“I’m a fireman, so I- uh…you’re hot!” He was smiling at Cas, his green eyes slightly bloodshot yet still vibrant. “I mean, uh…shit. I messed that up”

Gabriel snorted into his drink and laughed loudly. “Oh my god. This is great.”

The man seemed to be waiting for Castiel to say something, but Castiel could do nothing but stare at the attractive man in confusion. He was obviously very drunk, drunk enough that he could barely stand up straight, if the hand on the back of Cas’s chair was anything to go by.

“Um…hello.” Cas replied.

“Hey.” He drawled, his smile turning into a smirk. “I’m a fireman, so I know you’re hot.”

Cas frowned. “You said that.”

The man mirrored his frown. “I did?”

Gabe was cackling in the background. “Yeah, man. Nice try though. Are you actually a fireman?”

“Hell yeah!” He grabbed the sleeve of his black Henley and pulled it up, showing off a tattoo inked just below his shoulder. A badge was set into his skin, black and white, with the words Lawrence Fire Department and numbers that identified his station.

“Hear that, Cassie? He’s a fireman.”

He turned his dazzling smile to Gabe and made finger guns. “Yup, so I know when shomones hot.”

“Hey buddy!” Gabe laughed and clapped Dean on his shoulder. “Why don’t you try the angel one?”

He winked at Gabe before looking back at Castiel. “Dd it hurt when you fell from feaven? I mean, from feaven?”

Cas cleared his throat. “Are you ok? How much have you had to drink?”

The man reached out his hand and nudged Cas’s shoulder. “I’m doing great, man. D’ya know you’re hot?”

Cas was beginning to turn red from the attention. Never before had he been complimented so many times un under fie minutes. “You told me that already.”

“Oh, well…you’re hot!” He slurred and put his hand on Cas’s shoulder. “Wasss yer name? Cassie? I dated a Cassie once…”

“Castiel.” He replied and forced the mans heavy hand off of his shoulder and onto the table. He stumbled slightly at the change of position, but recovered enough to rest his hip on the hard edge.

“Cass-teyyy-el.” Dean repeated. “Has anyone ever tol you that you look kinda like Superman?”

Gabriel was shrieking with laughter behind the man. Castiel ignored his brother and squinted at the man in front of him. “No, I cant say that they have.”

“Ya got the…” he gestured to Cas’s hair and almost lost his balance in the process. “And the blue eyes…and yer name is kinda like ‘is too.”

Castiel nodded, pretty sure looked nothing like superman, or any other superhero for that matter. “Oh. Um…what’s your name?”

He smirked and winked at Cas. “Winchester. Dean Winchester.” He laughed at himself. “Like Bond. James Bond. You can be Bond, and I’ll be Superman- I mean, I’m Bond and you’re Superman.”

“Dean.” He repeated and watched Dean nod. “How much have you had to drink?”

“I dunno.”He looked back at his friend and their table full of empty glasses. “But not too much to not-” his voice trailed off for a moment and his eyes landed on Gabe. “Is this yer boyfriens?”

Gabe took his chance to jump in. “Hey Deano!” He shook Deans hand enthusiastically. “I’m Cassie’s big brother, its wonderful to meet you. You’re one lucky man because not only is my little brother single, but he’s also as straight as a rainbow. A circular rainbow.”

Cas turned a glacial glare towards his brother. It was one thing to encourage him to socialize more, it was another thing altogether to push drunken men towards him. Dean might be his type, and Cas was sure that sober Dean was extremely charming, but Cas surely wouldn’t have been Deans type if the man wasn’t so drunk. Obviously the alcohol had given him, as Gabe so often called it, ‘beer goggles’ and the moment the alcohol was out of his system he’d turn away and never look back.

Dean frowned at Gabriel. “So yer brother’s not straight?”

“Oh geeze, dude. I’ll slow it down for you. He’s gay. Really gay. Like, so gay that the last time he touched a vagina was when he was born.”

“Gabriel!” Cas hissed, annoyed that his brother was sharing such personal information, but it was too late. Comprehension was already dawning on Deans handsome face.

“Well, thas good, because I’m duper super attracted to you.”

“Awesome!” Gabriel slapped Dean on the back, sending the drunk man stumbling forward. “I’m trying to get Cassie over here to relax some. Were celebrating, did you know that? He needs to let loose!”

“’m celerbating too! We should celerbate together!” Dean grabbed the extra chair and sat himself in it, smiling at Cas the whole time. “What’er you celerbating?”

Cas glanced towards his brother, only to find him watching everything unfold with his chin resting on his interlaced fingers. “Well. I’m an author and my publishing house just approved my next book.”

“Wow!” His voice was loud and people were turning to look. “Thas amazing!”

He squirmed in his chair at the attention. “Its not that amazing.”

Dean looked surprised. “What? That’s the coolest thing ever!” Now he was definitely yelling. “You’re like an author! I’m with a pamous ferson!”

Cas looked at his brother and pleaded for help, but Gabe had already pulled out his phone and was too busy recording Castiel. Cas would definitely be seeing that later, most likely at the next family dinner. “I’m not famous.”

“Hey guys!” Dean turned around, eyes zeroing in on a group of men playing pool. “This guy is famous!”

“Oh lord…” Cas squeezed the bridge of his nose and tried to breathe deeply so he wouldn’t spontaneously combust.

“Wash yer name? Cas-tee…um. Cas. Whats yer last name?” He pulled out his phone.

“Novak”

Dean typed in his phone for a minute.”Ish this you?”

Cas tried to look at the screen, but Dean was swaying too much for him to get a good look. He reached out and placed his hand on Deans to steady him. Sure enough, despite the ridiculous misspelling of Cas’s name, there was his photo and list of published books. “Yes.”

“Wow!” He toward where his redheaded friend had been sitting, her camera still pointed towards Dean. If Dean hadn’t looked so damn earnest looking, Cas would assume that the camera meant he was being pranked, but he was starting to think she was just doing the same thing Gabriel was…enjoying her friend making a fool of himself. “Yer so famous! CanIhaveyourautograph?”

Cas frowned, and leaned forward so he could hear better over the noise of the bar, and the loud laughing coming from his brother. “Pardon?”

“Yer autograph?” He clarified.

Gabe was laughing so hard his drink was sloshing onto the table. “Yeah Cassie, wanna sign his ass?”

Deans eyes widened comically. “You’d do that?”

Cas cleared his throat. “No, I’d rather not.”

He looked down at his lap, disappointment clear in his slouched shoulders. After a moment, Dean looked back up and met Cas’s yes, a smile reappearing on his face. “Has anyone ever tol ya that yer voice is nice? Its like, DEEP!” Cas flinched back in surprise at the yelled word, but Dean was already continuing. “Do you smoke?”

“No. I don’t smoke.”

“Wow. That’s good then.” He gushed and leaned forward so that their noses were almost touching. “And yer eyes are so nice.”

“Thank you.” Cas wanted to lean back and give himself some more space, but Deans eyes were just so green and he was having a really hard time breathing because its not every day that a man as handsome as Dean was so close to you. “Yours are as well.”

He smiled widely, flashing a perfect set of white teeth. “You like my eyes? What else?”

Cas’s eyes glanced towards Gabriel, seeking some kind of instruction. Gabe flashed him a thumbs up and pantomimed a certain sexual act that left Castiel grumbling in embarrassment. He looked back to Dean, whose face was still close to his own, and cleared his throat. “You’re freckles are beautiful.”

Dean licked his lips. “Yeah?”

“Yes.”

He leaned further into Cas’s space and his lips brushed his ear. “Ya wanna get out of here?”

Cas’s breath stuttered to a stop and he was sure his face was flaming red. “I thank you, but no.”

He pulled back and pouted. “I thought you liked me.”

Cas put a tentative hand on Deans shoulder. “I do.”

“But you don’t want to sleep with me?”

“I prefer my partners to be sober.”

Dean frowned. “I’m not drunk.”

Cas smiled sadly. “I doubt you’d remember me in the morning, Dean. You’ve had quite a lot to drink.”

“I’m not that drunk, Cas.”

“Prove it!” Gabriel goaded, his camera out and ready.

“Prove it.” He scoffed. “I’m prove it.”

The next thing Cas knew, hands were cupping his face and lips were pressed into his. Cas’s hands flew out to grasp onto Dean in surprise, and his knee hit the underside of the table so hard it rattled what was left of Cas’s beer. The kiss was aggressive from the start. The minute their lips touched, Dean was forcing his way into Cas’s mouth, leaving him shaky and breathless. Dean tasted sweet, with an undercurrent of alcohol and Cas was dizzy with it. Dean nibbled at Cas’s bottom lip and bit down hard enough for Cas to gasp, and he dove in once more. He could do nothing but hold onto Dean so he didn’t get swept away. With one final suck on Cas’s tongue, Dean pulled away leaving him gasping for breath and bracing himself on the table in front of him.

“See?” He laughed and turned to Gabriel for a high five. “I’m not Drunk!”

Gabriel, the bastard, hooted in triumph and slapped his hand against Deans. “Way to go Cas!”

“Ok, well…” Cas stood up and took a second to compose himself. His heart was pounding in his chest and he was seconds away from dragging the drunk man to a dark corner and having his way with him. He had to get out of there. “I think its time for me to leave. Are you coming, Gabriel?”

Cas felt an hand on his arm, when he turned he saw that it was Dean. “Wait, ya goin?”

Cas couldn’t look him in the eye. “Yes.”

The handsome man rubbed the back of his neck. “Oh, well…can I have yer phone number?”

He finally looked up, and Dean looked surprisingly disappointed. “You wont remember me in the morning, Dean.”

He pouted and reached out to touch Cas’s cheek. “But I want to remember you.”

Cas sighed, deliberating. It wasn’t everyday that a man as handsome as Dean showed any interest in him, in fact it never happened. Guys like Dean didn’t go for guys like Cas. He was bookish, quiet. He preferred curling up in his squishy armchair and reading a nice book, to going out to parties, or even hanging out with his own friends. Dean would get bored of him and Cas would be left looking in the mirror and telling himself ‘I told you so’.

But…

If he didn’t give his phone number to Dean, he knew he would regret it. He would curl up in his armchair with his homemade quilt and decaffeinated tea, and wish that there was someone else was there to share the moment with him. There was a small- very small- chance that person could be Dean. Cas wanted someone to be squashed into the armchair with him, struggling for a comfortable spot, but not caring enough to get their own seat. For someone to make fun of his sweater collection, but still grab him one if he got too cold. For someone to drag out to farmers markets so they could get the best honey and soaps. He wanted that. If there was even the smallest chance that he could have that with a man like Dean, then he would hate himself if he didn’t give it a shot.

Cas saw a slightly damp napkin on the table, and a cup of small trivia hour pencils on the table, and took a second to write his number with his best handwriting. Dean was drunk enough, he didn’t want to chance Dean misreading the digits. “Call me in the morning if you still feel the same.”

Deans smile was almost blinding as he dug his phone out of his pocket and unlocked to before taking the napkin and typing the information inside his phone. “Thanks man. We could go out for dinner. What do ya think?”

Cas fidgeted. “Ask me again when you’re sober.”

Dean nodded solemnly. “I will.”

He spared Dean one last glance, and then he turned to leave, not even bothering to check if Gabe was coming too. He’d get an Uber alone if he had to.

It was only a few feet from the door that Gabe caught up to him. “You have fun tonight?”

Cas blew out a frustrated stream of breath, refusing to give a direct answer to the question. “You know how I feel about bars, Gabriel.”

Gabe opened the door for him. “Well, we were here for more than an hour and I had a few drinks, so I’ll still call this a success!”

Cas ignored his brother and opened the Uber app on his phone so he could get them a ride.

“You know…I would have stepped in if Dean took it too far.”

Cas finally looked at his brother. “You laughed when he kissed me.”

“Well, in my defense, you were super into it.” Cas opened his mouth to protest, but Gabe cut him off before he could get a word out. “Don’t lie to me. I’ve known you for a long time, Cassie. You liked it, I could tell. If you weren’t into him you’d have just growled at him and told him to fuck off. You’ve done it before.”

“I don’t growl at people.”

“Uh, you kinda do, Cassie.”

“Well, its good to know that my own brother-” He was interrupted by his phone beeping. He glanced at the screen and saw that he had a text message, which was strange because the only people that ever texted him were Balthasar and Anna, both of which knew not to text him after nine. He unlocked his phone and opened the messages, seeing that he had a text from an unknown number.

_Unknown number:_  
_Cas its meee1_  
_I text Bexar I soft want u to forgery me_  
_Forget_  
_You r sooooo cute_

Cas blushed lightly and showed his phone to Gabriel, who laughed. “Well, at least the kid got some of the words right.”

_Castiel:_  
_Thank you, Dean_

His screen lit up again and Cas opened the new message with a smile on his face.

_Unknown number:_  
_Mt Friends charlie says ur cute too_

A few minutes later, Cas and Gabriel climbed into the Uber and Cas sighed in relief when he was finally headed home. A good nights sleep was just what he needed, maybe he’d even turn off his alarm clock and sleep in.

The texts, on the other hand, just kept coming.

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The morning after.

The minute Deans eyes cracked open, he immediately wished for the sweet release of death. Dean had been hungover many times in his life, and was usually able to bounce back relatively quickly after a few pain killers and a greasy breakfast…but Dean was now in his mid thirties and he hadn’t had that much to drink since his early college days. God, why did he drink so much alcohol? Every time he woke up with a hangover, he always told himself it would be the last time. Well, this time would _definitely_ be the last time.

He clamped his eyelids shut and groaned at the headache that was making itself home in his skull. It was still dark out, and definitely too early for any sane person to be up, so without even thinking about it, he turned to check the time on his alarm clock. The minute those harsh red numbers came into view, Deans stomach rolled. He pushed himself out of bed quickly, his head pounding in tune to his heart, and made a staggering attempt to reach the bathroom before he threw up all over himself. He was barely able to brace himself against the cold porcelain before his stomach contents were purged into the toilet. Once his stomach was empty and the dry heaves stopped, Dean closed his eyes against the swimming images and let out a pitiful groan.

Reaching blindly for the tap, he turned the water on and worked on getting himself into a standing position. He bent over and let the water rinse his mouth clean before he dug the mouthwash out from under the sink. Once his mouth tasted like mint, instead of vomit, he cupped his hands under the flow of water and gulped down a few mouthfuls. By the time he made it back to his room a little over ten minutes after he left his warm bed, he was ready to collapse back into his memory foam and sleep for at least a few more hours. Maybe, he thought to himself, he’d sleep through his hangover as well.

Just as he pulled the blankets back to get into his bed, a lump shifted under his blankets and he couldn’t even bring himself to care that he had apparently brought someone home with him. He let himself back into his bed and pulled the blankets to completely cover himself. He’d deal with it in the morning, along with the shame.

An unknown time later, Dean woke again. He could see the light filtering through the blanket that still covered his head. Even that small amount of light was enough to make his head pound. He’d have to come out of his cocoon eventually, and if his bladder had any say in it, the time would come earlier than he wanted.

“This is it…” He whispered to himself. “This is how I die.” Dean closed his eyes and let the darkness soothe his headache. Dean wished he hadn’t been too drunk last night to put out a glass of water and some ibuprofen, but he obviously hadn’t been that smart. It was a brief battle in his head, stay in bed or get some ibuprofen, but his stubbornness won out and he let himself snuggle further into his memory foam. If he could just lay completely still, he’d be fine. It wasn’t that bad, really. He was fine. Absolutely fine. He closed his eyes, and actually began to drift back to sleep, but it was way too soon that the air under the blanket became too hot for him to continue to be comfortable. With a muffled curse, some groping, and a few pained moans, Dean found his phone on the nightstand and turned the screen on to check the time. His stomach rolled as he read the numbers declaring that it was almost 10:30am. No wonder it was getting so warm. With an angry click, he turned off his screen and shut his eyes tightly as he fought off the nausea. Looks like his Sunday morning Netflix marathon would have to be postponed.

It was then he was reminded of his bed partners presence by some shuffling and a very feminine sounding sigh. He tried to remember back to the night before, but he was drawing a serious blank. Obviously, he had brought someone home...but who? Shit. He felt around and happily discovered that he still had his boxers on, so either they hadn’t done anything or he had the presence of mind afterwards to pull something on. He prayed it was the former. With as little disturbance to the bed as possible, Dean smoothly rolled over and came face to face with an exposed shoulder. The pale skin was made even paler by the contrast of the dark blue bra strap.

Well, at least she wasn’t naked either.

The figure let out a moan and pulled the blanket down, revealing a face surrounded by a mess of red hair. “Dean? You alive?” Charlie croaked.

Dean groaned loudly. Thank god it was just Charlie. “Barely.”

She rolled towards him and cracked her eyes open. “What time is it?”

“After 10.” He mumbled and rested his head on her shoulder, nestling himself in the crook of her neck with a sigh. This was it. He was never getting up ever again.

Charlie reached up and ran her fingers through his hair. “Are we naked? I’m afraid to open my eyes but I definitely feel a lot of skin right now…”

He began to shake his head, but stopped himself quickly after it sent his head into a dizzy spin. “Nope, thank god. I thought I brought someone home for a second.”

She scoffed. “There’s no way I would have gotten drunk enough to sleep with you.”

“Ha, ha…” He mumbled. “You wish you could have a piece of this.”

“Ew. No thank you. Too much dick for me.” She pushed the warm blanket further down and finally opened her eyes to take a look at herself. “Well, I’m glad I wore the cute underwear.”

“Can we just stay here forever?” he asked hopefully.

She shook her head slowly. “I’m so gross. I need a toothbrush, a shower, and some Tylenol or something.”

He groaned and shut his eyes, deciding that if he could just fall back to sleep, he might wake up feeling better.

She scraped his scalp with her nails, sending shivers all down his body. “Please…”

“I hope you know how much I love you, Charlie.” He swung his legs over the bed and sat up slowly. Dean swayed as soon as he took his first step, and he blindly reached out to catch himself on his nightstand. With his eyes half closed, he felt around the floor with his foot until he found his jeans and then pulled them on. He tried opening his eyes again and was greeted with the mid day sun stabbing his dry eyeballs. With steading breath, he slowly trudged to the bathroom, being careful not to jar his head. Fuck. He’s forgotten how much hangovers sucked. The ibuprofen was in his medicine cabinet, thank god he hadn’t forgotten to put it back after his last headache, and he brought it with him as he made his way to the kitchen.

“Can I have breakfast too?” She yelled from the bathroom and Dean shook his head. She must not be as hungover as he was if she was able to yell. Even the thought of raising his voice over a low murmur was enough to make him nauseous.

“Yeah. Come get it.” He opened the cabinets while he waited for her to make an appearance. “We’re havin’ lucky charms, because it’s the only cereal I have and I feel too shitty to make actual food.”

“Ew…” she murmured as she entered the kitchen wearing a pair of Dean’s pajama bottoms and her faded Firefly t-shirt. “Where are my pants?”

“I don’t know…” He pulled out some cups and two bowls, then began rummaging in the clean pile of dishes for some spoons. “Could still be at the bar for all I know.”

“Dang. You don’t remember last night either?”

“Nope.” He fished around in his pockets for his wallet, usually the state of his cash supply was a good indicator of the kind of night he had. He opened it slowly, afraid to see what was inside. “Well…either I got robbed, or we drank a shitload of alcohol. I had $150 in there last night.”

“Well, considering that we cant remember anything from last night, and we woke up practically naked…I’m guessing it was the latter option.” She leaned back in her chair and stared at the ceiling with a pout. “I’m too scared to look in my wallet. Its probably all gone too. We likely drank our way through more than $200.”

He tossed his wallet onto his counter and filled the cups with water before handing one to Charlie with two ibuprofens. “I’m never going to a bar again.”

“I think I’m with you on that one. On my next birthday we’ll just watch Netflix and eat pizza like normal people.” She pinched the bridge of her nose. “I cant afford the party girl lifestyle.”

He snorted in amusement and put the cereal box on the table before getting the milk. “Sounds great to me. I’m too old for this.”

“You’re telling me.” She chuckled before pulling out her cellphone and checking her emails.

They ate in silence, the only noise was the rhythmic tapping of Charlie’s nails against her phone screen. It was just as Dean was getting up for a second bowl of cereal that she let out a low whistle.

“What’s up?”

“Well, I don’t know why…but I have 86 messages on my Instagram account.”

Dean frowned. “Don’t you usually have a lot? You post Moondoor meetups and stuff. I know you’re not super popular or anything, but you have a few hundred followers...”

“Yeah, but that’s my Moondoor account.” She glanced up at him. “This is my personal one. I usually only get a few a day…”

“So?” he asked through a mouthful of cereal.

She leveled him with a serious look. “You’re telling me that I shouldn’t be worried that I suddenly have a flood of messages after a night of heavy drinking?”

He set his spoon down slowly and swallowed his half chewed food through the lump in his throat. “What did you post?”

She chuckled nervously. “I’m almost afraid to look.”

“Well, ya gotta.” He cleared his throat and tried to lighten the mood. “It might explain why we woke up in our underwear.”

“Its like Schrodinger's cat, you know?” she opened the app and held her finger over her Instagram story for a second before setting her phone down gently. “Do I want to know if I just made a fool of myself in front of my internet friends?”

He smiled at her, happy it wasn’t him that drunkenly used social media for once. “You better open it. It’s the only record of what happened last night. Buck up.”

She shook her head at him. “Well, here goes nothing.”

She bit the bullet and clicked onto her story. 13 hours, it said. That as just after they arrived at the bar. The sound of a crowded room filled his kitchen, too loud music and quite a lot of talking. The first one wasn’t bad at all and Dean let his shoulders relax as he watched Charlie shakily record him doing three shots in a row. That, at least, he remembered. If his memory was correct, he had a bear and something purple and fruity before his memory started getting fuzzy.

“Ok, this isn’t that bad. Maybe people are just concerned that we drank ourselves to death. Did you read any messages?”

“No, I was too afraid to.”

The next one started, still 13 hours. This one of Dean throwing a dart and missing the bull’s-eye by a few inches. He must not have been _that_ drunk if he could still hit the dart board. The next video showed Dean dancing badly to a country song.

Dean frowned as he watched himself dance. “I hope these aren’t all of me…”

She nodded, and chewed on her bottom lip nervously as the next one began to play. Another one of them drinking, this one featuring Charlie’s hand clinking their glasses together. “There has to be at least 10 more videos, Dean. If they’re all just us drinking, I’m just happy we’re not dead.”

Another video began, 12 hours, this one of Dean standing on the other side of their table and yelling something about Pearl Jam being underrated, while the distinct sound of Nirvana’s Teen Spirit was playing in the background. “And, like, Yellow Ledbetter is ten times better and it hardly ever gets played! But no! Its this fucking song all day long-” Dean ranted for the entirety of the clip, and he was impressed with his drunk self for his ability to form coherent sentences.

It was the next one that caught him off guard. 11 hours. Dean was no longer with Charlie. Instead, he was a few tables away with his hand on a mans shoulder. He watched himself cock his hip and lean against the table while a second man laughed at him. “Oh no…”

Charlie had the nerve to laugh. “Looks like you found someone last night, Dean. Does any of this ring a bell?”

“No.” He groaned and rubbed at the back of his head nervously as he watched himself smile and talk to the man. If his unsteadiness was anything to go by, then he was extremely drunk and he was beginning to feel sorry for the handsome man. And handsome he was. From what he could tell, and he was really cursing the crappy lighting right about now, the man had messy dark hair and a strong jaw that was covered in a short layer of stubble. Drunk Dean had good taste it would seem. The man, on the other hand, looked uncomfortable.

Another clip started. Immediately, Dean was seen yelling. “This guys famous!” in his drunken slur and he was turning back to the man and speaking too quietly for Dean to hear. The man had his hand over his face- in embarrassment? Frustration?- and Dean was surprised that he hadn’t been punched yet.

The next video sent his heart stuttering. The man was holding onto Dean for dear life while he kissed the life out of him. It wasn’t sweet, or even gentle. Dean was attacking the man in his seat, kissing him so hard that the man was being forced to lean back. Charlie was cheering loudly in the background, and dean had to close his eyes because he felt like a complete idiot. Not only was he drunk out of his mind, he was also assaulting the poor guy. As quick as that video started, it abruptly cut off when Charlie dropped the phone on the table.

The next one showed Dean back at the table, resting his head on his hands, the time stamp said 10 hours. “He said I was _drunk,_ Char! I’m not drunk. I think I scared him away!” He rubbed at his eyes and Dean was mortified to see that his eyes were red and watery. “He just left! I put myself out there, like you shaid I should, and he didn’t want to have sex with me! He’s just so hot! Did you see his eyes? They were like-” He gestured around himself. “-so pretty.”

Charlie could be heard murmuring quietly in what sounded like sympathy, the camera shaking as she shushed him. He let his head drop to the table with a thud, and groaned loudly. “I said ‘Do ya wanna get out of here?’ and he told me I was drunk! Why doesn’t he like me?” Dean whined loudly. “I just want to date him!” he yelled.

“You should text him!” Charlie yelled back with a slur.

The video cut off and started back again at the same point.

“I’m going to text him!” He fumbled with his phone for a moment before unlocking it and opening his messages. “He thinks I’m going to forget him when I’m not drunk. I’m not drunk. I’ll show him.” The screen went black for a moment before it picked up again as Charlie began a new video. “You think he’s cute too, right?”

“Yesss!” Charlie cheered, jostling the camera enough that Dean was getting sick watching it.

“Imm’a tell him that…” he continued typing and the video cut off.

The next few video’s were of Charlie dancing, pointing the camera down at herself as she ground herself against an attractive brunette. The last video was of them in a car, window rolled down, singing obnoxiously to the radio.

Charlie set her phone down carefully and glanced at Dean. “Well…it looks like you had a big night.”

“Oh my god, Charlie.” He flopped down in his chair and buried his head in his hands. “I’m an idiot.”

“It wasn’t that bad…”

“No, you’re right Charlie.” He glared at her. “I just made a complete idiot out of myself in front of a hot guy!”

“Well, I mean. He didn’t kick your ass, right? So he cant have hated you.”

“Charlie…” he groaned and took a large bite of his soggy cereal. “I cant go back to that bar. Ever.”

She sighed. “Dean…it wasn’t that bad. He gave you his number, right?”

He let his spoon drop as he scrambled for his phone, unlocking it with a squint as the screen lit up and hurt his eyes. With a quick tap, his messages were opened and sure enough, his most recent message was to a ‘Casfee NOvk’. “Casfee? That cant be his name.”

“Well, as drunk as you were I’m surprised you were even able to send a text, let alone correctly spell a name.”

He took a deep breath and opened his text conversation with ‘Casfee’.

_Dean (12:30):_   
_Cas its meee1_   
_I text Bexar I soft want u to forgery me_   
_Forget_   
_You r sooooo cute_

  
_Casfee (12:39):_   
_Thank you, Dean_

_Dean (12:39)_   
_Mt Friends charlie says ur cute too_

_Casfee (12:58):_   
_Thank you, Dean._   
_I’m going to bed now._   
_Call me in the morning if you wish._   
_No hard feelings if you don’t._

_Dean (1:02):_   
_Cassss we sudd go out_   
_On a dat_   
_Dat_   
_Date_

_Dean (1:28):_   
_O hav August drink but still not drunl_   
_Drunk_   
_I like u_

_Dean (1:20):_   
_Are you sleeping good_   
_I red your wikipedia and ur reallysmart_   
_I really want to tate you_   
_Date_

_Dean (1:40):_   
_I leaving bar nor_   
_Still mot drunk_

_Dean (2:23):_   
_Goodnight Cas_   
_I text_

Dean’s face was as red as a tomato when he finally made it through all of the texts. Charlie was shaking with restrained laughter, her eyes watery and her freckled face pink. “Dean-” she gasped for breath. “I cant-” she finally cracked and shrieked with laughter, clutching her stomach. “I cant believe I cant remember this! Best night ever!”

Dean bit his bottom lip. “Oh, god. I should text him and apologize, right? I mean…what if he presses charges or something? I practically attacked the guy with my tongue and then drunk texted him for 3 hours!”

Charlie was still laughing. “Please call him! Put it on speaker, will you?”

He gave her a look. “Hearing my voice is probably the last thing he wants.”

She rolled her eyes. “Did you read those or not? He said to call him if you want.”

He took a deep breath. “Yeah, but…”

She thumped her fists on the table rhythmically. “Do it. Do it. Do it.”

“Charlie…” he grumbled in embarrassment.

She pouted. “Come on, Dean. He gave you his phone number. He wouldn’t have done it if he didn’t want you to call!”

“But-”

She continued over his protests. “And he’s hot! You have a hot mans phone number and you aren’t going to call? Don’t be a bitch. Do you like him?”

He threw his hands into the air. “I don’t know! I was drunk! I don’t even know what his real name is!”

Charlie shook her head at him. “Did you read those texts? You called him Cas. That sounds a lot more like a name than Casfee. And you said he has a wikipedia page! Look it up!”

He ground his teeth together in frustration. “How can I do that if I don’t have a name?!”

“Dean, you know I love you…right? I know you just recently entered the 21st century, so I’m not going to hold this against you. Open your phone, click on the search bar, and look at your history.”

He stared at her for a moment, uncomprehending, before he decided to just do as he was told. He clicked on his search bar and it expanded to his most recent searches. there, on the top, was 'Castil novkk’. Dean took a deep breath when, upon clicking, it took him to a Wikipedia page dedicated to Castiel Novak, an author with an impressive list of books. He felt Charlie rest her chin on his shoulder and watch as he scrolled down to find his picture. When he finally found it, he groaned. “Great. He’s not only really talented, but has also way hotter than I thought he was! He’s so out of my league its-”

“Dean! He’s not out of your league! Yeah, he’s an author and he’s good looking…but you’re hot too and you’re a _fireman._ That’s like one of the hottest professions. I would kill for a hot firewoman! Just imagine what all of those muscles could do. Hey, is Jo still single? I’d let her fireman carry me to the bedroom…”

Dean shuddered at the thought. “I don’t need to be thinking about that right now. And yeah, I’m a fireman, but look-” he shoved his phone at Charlie. “This guy has a Pulitzer.”

“But that doesn’t make him out of your league!”

“Charlie…”

“Dean, you save _lives_ for a living.” She pushed his phone back into his hands. “That puts you in a league of your own.”

He shifted awkwardly. “Yeah, but its my job. I’d be a shitty fireman if I _didn’t_ save lives.”

Her look was unimpressed. “Call him, Dean. See if he wants to go on a date, for Hermione’s sake, and don’t be so down on yourself. Okay?”

He rolled his eyes. “Ok, that all sounds good, but what if he’s another Aaron?”

Charlie cringed. “Ok, I understand. Aaron was a dick who partied way too much, but if you watched the same video’s as a did you could tell that he wasn’t dancing on table tops like Aaron used to do. _And,_ he wouldn’t sleep with you because you were drunk. Consent is sexy, Dean. Doesn’t sound one bit like Aaron. Besides, you’re not asking him to be your boyfriend, just for a date. Ask him out for coffee. Don’t complicate things.”

He took a deep breath and nodded. “You’re right. I’m just asking him out on a date. That’s it. No pressure.”

She gave him a thumbs up and dug back into her soggy cereal. “I’m not even going to pay attention.”

He chuckled. “Sure you aren’t.”

With his heart in his throat, he opened his contacts and called ‘Casfee’- he really neede to fix that- before he could chicken out. It rang four or five times, and just as Dean was about to hang up- there was no way Dean was prepared to leave a message right now- there was a click…

“Hello?”

He jumped in shock. The voice on the other hand was not anything he could have prepared himself for, and he suddenly didn’t really blame himself for his actions last night, that voice was enough to bring anyone to so stupid things. Dean quickly cleared his throat. “Um, is this Cas?”

“Yes, it is.” Cas paused. “I didn’t expect to hear from you, Dean.”

He chucked awkwardly. “Yeah, well I don’t remember anything from last night, man. If my friend hadn’t recorded me…”

“Ah, yes. I had noticed your friend recording you. My brother did the same. I expect I will be seeing the video’s he took soon enough, I’m assuming it will be at a very inconvenient time.”

“Yeah.” He rubbed the back of his neck and wondered if the formal speaking was a normal thing for him. “They were a surprise, I’ll tell you that.”

“I see.”

Dean glanced at Charlie, who had dropped all pretext of pretending he wasn’t listening and was now leaning forward and straining herself so she could hear. She nodded in encouragement. “I’m so sorry, man. If I wasn’t so drunk last night I never would have acted like that.”

It was silent for a moment. “Oh, I understand.”

Charlie whacked him in the shoulder, hard enough for him to suck in a sharp breath and whirl around to face her. She shaking her head and waving her hands around, but Dean was still too hungover to think too deeply into it. “Hey, can you hold on for a minute?”

“No. I think I must go. Thank you for your time, Dean.” and then there was a click and the phone went silent. Dean drew back the phone and saw his home screen staring back at him. He glanced up at Charlie, who now had her head resting in her palm.

That was definitely not how he expected that phone call to go. I was short, abruptly cut off before Dean could get to the meat of it and ask the man out. “He hung up. We talked for less than two minutes…”

“Hell yeah he did! Did you mean to reject him, Dean? Because that’s kinda fucked. You shouldn’t have called him at all.”

“What? No I didn’t. I barely said anything!”

“Yeah, and what you did say was crap.”

“But…” He trailed off, unsure of what to say.

“Ok, so imagine this. You meet this guy at a bar, and he’s drunk off of his ass but still kind of cute. Cute enough for you to give him your phone number, at least. You’re real phone number, might I add. He could have easily given you a fake and you would have been too drunk to even notice. And then the guy you met calls you and apologizes for his behavior. From what it sounded like, you regretted everything.”

“But I do! I was drunk and if I were sober, I would have done things way differently.”

“Yeah, but you weren’t sober, you were drunk and it seemed like you wanted to take it all back.”

He ran his fingers through his hair. “But I don’t! Well, most of it actually, but not the getting his number part!”

“Well, you basically apologized for being interested!”

“But I was acting like an ass last night! That’s what I was apologizing for. Not for hitting on him.”

“Well, he gave you his phone number, didn’t he? Obviously he liked you!”

“But-”

She cut him off. “Hi, I’m Dean. I me you last night at a bar where I was too drunk to remember anything, but I saw a video of me coming onto you pretty hard. I’m sorry, I wouldn’t have done it if I were sober.”

Dean struggled with his reply for a moment. “That’s not what I meant.”

She shrugged and folded her arms over her chest. “You have to call him back.”

He looked down at his phone. “But what do I say now. I completely screwed everything up.”

“I don’t know. Apologize? Explain yourself? Be sensible?” She rolled her eyes at him. “This is why there are so many straight people, men are useless without women.”

He shoved his phone at her. “Send him a text for me. I’ll just screw it up if I call him.”

She slid his phone back across the table. “No can do.”

He pouted at her. “Please?”

“The puppy dog eyes only work with Sam. Call him.”

He hit send before he could overthink it and brought the phone up to his ear in a grimace. It came to a shock to him when Cas answered it after just a few rings.

“Hello, Dean.”

“Hey, Cas. Um…” he cleared his throat and watched as Charlie gave him an encouraging nod. “Hi. I didn’t think you would answer.”

“I wasn’t going to answer. I probably shouldn’t have.”

Dean cringed. “Yeah, sorry. Listen…um…I think there was a misunderstanding.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “I didn’t mean to say that I regretted hitting on you.” He glanced at Charlie to gauge her reaction, and she gestured for him to continue. “I just regretted that I was so drunk when I did it.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, I…uh.” He turned away from Charlie so he could at least have the illusion of privacy. “I’m not so good with words, Cas. I saw the video’s and I was…” he squeezed his eyes shut and forced out the word. “...embarrassed.”

There was a pause on the other end and it took a few moments for Cas’s deep voice to continue. “I think I understand. I believed that once you saw me in the video, you regretted hitting on me and called to let me down.”

Deans eyes widened in panic. “No! Of course not. That wouldn’t be cool.”

“I agree.” Cas cleared his throat. “That was why I ended the conversation so abruptly. I was offended that you felt the need to reject me in such a way.”

“Shit. That definitely wasn’t what I was trying to do.” He shook his head. “I’m such an ass.”

“Thank you for clarifying Dean.”

“Yeah, so…” Dean took a deep breath. “In one of the vidoes I kissed you. I wanted to apologize mainly for that.”

Cas let out a low chuckle that sent tingles through his body and he blushed at his reaction. “You don’t need to worry too much about that. I wasn’t upset by that at all. Surprised, but not upset.”

“Oh. You sure?” he questioned and then immediately wanted to slap himself. Did dean _want_ the man to yell at him?

“Yes, Dean. I could have stopped you at any point, I assure you.” He paused and lowered his voice. “I enjoyed your attention.”

“Oh.” Dean whispered, a flush working its way up his neck. How could he just come out and say that? Dean was so used to people playing hard to get that this was really fucking refreshing. “Good. I regret that I cant remember what happened. I usually don’t drink so much, but it was my friends birthday and things just…” he trailed off, unsure if anything he could say would undo the bad impression he made on the man.

“You came up to me and my brother and tried to use a pick up line.”

“Tried?” he questioned.

“You told me that you were a fireman so you knew that I was hot.”

Dean couldn’t help himself, he let out a bark of laughter. Of course he would say something so stupid. “I’m sorry, man. I’m usually better than that.”

“I thought it was charming.” Cas admitted.

“Really?”

“Yes, and my brother thought you were very entertaining.” He let out another small laugh and it had Dean smiling. “You made my night much more enjoyable than it would have been otherwise.”

“Not a big bar person?”

“Not exactly. I had hoped to spend the night doing some pleasure reading and then making it an early night. I’m not a fan of parties or bars, as much as my brother wishes I was. He’s the one that forced me out.”

Deans eyebrows rose. This guy was basically the opposite of his last boyfriend, Aaron. That relationship was a whirlwind from start to finish. They met at a coffee shop and then started dating almost immediately. Aaron had been big on going out and partying, and in the beginning it had been fun. Inevitably, after the first month, all of the bars and clubs began getting old. He trudged through them, though, and began playing designated driver for his boyfriend. It only took another month to get tired of it. Tired of taking care of a drunk boyfriend. Tired of being Aarons taxi service. That was the beginning of the end. It was only a little more time until Aaron just disappeared. Not a call or text ever came Deans way. It was tough, but it helped that Dean had never really seen the guy after that. Perhaps he moved, Dean thought, and decided that Dean didn’t deserve the decency of a proper breakup.

Maybe Cas, who preferred reading to partying, was just what Dean needed.

“That actually sounds nice.” He admitted.

Cas was silent for a moment, and when he finally spoke, his voice was full of hope. “Does that sound like something you’d be interested in?”

Dean couldn’t help but blush. This guy didn’t beat around the bush. “Yeah. It does.”

Cas hummed into the phone. “Would you like to meet up for coffee?”

Dean turned to face Charlie, who was smiling so much her cheeks had to be hurting her. “Yes. When?”

“Would it be too much to ask for today?”

Charlie was nodding enthusiastically and Dean agreed. “Yeah. I can be ready in 30 minutes.”

“That’s good, Dean. Can I text you an address to the bakery I frequent? Its my brothers, the one from last night. They have good coffee and pastries, all made in-house.”

“Sounds good, Cas.”

They ended the call a few moments later and he let out a long breath before he sat back in his seat. “What just happened?”

Charlie hugged him from behind, wrapping her arms around his neck. “You just got yourself a date.”

The adrenaline of the phone call now wavering, Deans headache was coming back in full force. “What have I done?”

“You manned up, Dean.”

“No. Charlie…” he ran his fingers through his already messy hair. “I look like shit. My hair is a mess, my head hurts like a bitch, I have dark circles under my eyes...why did I agree to meet him in 30 minutes? Fuck, he’s going to look like a god and I’m going to look like I just spent a night out getting drunk off of my ass. Oh, wait. I did!”

She scoffed. “Just wear that black t-shirt you hate.”

He frowned. “The one that hasn’t fit since before Fire Academy?”

Charlie smirked at him. “Yeah, duh! Wear that shirt and he wont even notice you look like shit.”

Dean couldn’t help but laugh at Charlie. “That’s actually a good idea.”

“Right?” She shoved him towards his bedroom. “Distract him with all of that fireman muscle. Speaking of fireman muscle, is Jo still single?”

He ignored her I favor of getting into the shower. If he wasn’t going to look his best, the least he could do was smell good.

o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o

Dean walked into the bakery 30 minutes later, clean shaven and wearing a shirt that hadn’t fit him since he put on 15 pounds of muscle. His ‘fuck me’ shirt, as Charlie had called it. The bakery was nice, painted with warm colors, and accented with dark wood. The tables were surrounded by cushioned chairs and the glass display cases were full of freshly baked pastries.

“Dean.” A low voice called him out of his appraisal of the bakery.

He turned, and at a table near the front window, was a man Dean only recognized because he had glanced at the picture featured on the mans Wikipedia page at every red light he had caught on the way. He was just as handsome as his picture, maybe even more so in person. His dark hair was in disarray, as if he just rolled out of bed, and his face sported a layer of stubble that framed his plush lips, pink like he had just been kissed. God, Dean wished he remembered what those lips felt like on his. His eyes were hooded, framed by dark eyebrows that gave him a serious look, but his eyes were warm and crinkled like he as smiling. The blue of his eyes drew him in, and before he realized what he was doing, he was walking towards the man with a smile. No wonder he had been so drawn to the man. “Cas.”

The warm sweater, an ashy gray sweater that looked incredibly soft and comfortable, made the color of his eyes pop by contrast. The collar of a white button down drew his eyes to Cas’s neck, thick, and then down to his shoulders, wide and relaxed. His eyes snapped back up to Cas’s mouth as he began to speak. “I’m glad you could make it, Dean.”

Dean let out a small laugh, and smirked at him. “Yeah, me too.”

Cas gestured at the empty seat across from him and sat down. An hour and a half later, after two cups of coffee and one slice of pecan pie each, Dean left with the promise of another date on Wednesday.

On their third date- a week and a half after they had met in the bar- Dean finally got the courage to kiss Cas again. This time he made sure it was one he wouldn’t be ashamed of remembering.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Meant to have this up yesterday, but hey...its Memorial Day weekend and I got busy.
> 
> As always, comments are very much appreciated and fuel the fire of my muse.


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